Vandalized Tower Incident
Has Silver Lining
08/10/2013
After vandals toppled the tower supporting the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club’s APRS
digipeater, the club decided to move its gear from Rocky Ridge, in the
hills above Danville and San Ramon, California, to the North Peak of
Mount Diablo. After recovering the digipeater hardware from Rocky Ridge
on August 2, a team of five members of the MDARC Tech Committee the next
day climbed the North Peak of Mount Diablo in a 4×4 truck re-installed the APRS digipeater and installed an amateur TV station.
“The digipeater, now 1000 feet higher in elevation, helps to cover an
area with a radius as much as 150 miles,” says MDARC President Jim
Siemons, AF6PU. “According to APRS.fi, the
region had virtually no APRS coverage since the collapse of the Rocky
Ridge Tower. Now, a much larger area has superior coverage, and [this]
may actually lead to APRS devices becoming more popular among ham
operators.”
Authorities suspect that vandals in late July cut several guy wires
supporting the Rocky Ridge radio tower in the hills of the Las Trampas
Regional Wilderness, causing the 200 foot structure to topple. Police
are still investigating. — Thanks to Jim Siemons, AF6PU
.
